Swedish Reference Glaciers Continue to Shrink

19th October 2024

The results of the annual measurements of the glaciers’ mass balance show that Storglaciären, Rabots Glacier, Rivgojiehhki, and Moarhmmáglaciären have shrunk significantly.

These are the largest losses since systematic measurements began.

The measurements check both the winter balance, which is determined at the end of winter and accounts for the glaciers’ growth in the form of snow and ice, and the summer balance, which captures the glaciers’ melting during the summer.

The information is reported to the World Glacier Monitoring Service in Switzerland, where data for approximately 50 reference glaciers worldwide is collected.

Compared to the average melting over the past decade:

• The mass loss on Storglaciären this year has increased fivefold and is also more than three times greater than the previous year.
• The Rabots Glacier, which this year lost just over 9,450 tons of ice, surpassing the glacier’s previously largest recorded mass loss of just over 7,100 tons in 2011.
• Rivgojiehhki and Moarhmmáglaciären lost just over 9,000 tons and 8,200 tons, respectively, during the balance year 2023/2024, representing an increase in loss of more than 50 percent for both glaciers compared to their previous largest losses.